Tottenham Hotspur Women took a 2-1 lead deep into the second half against Manchester United Women on Sunday thanks to two goals in three minutes from Bethany England and Jessica Naz. But despite a stout defensive performance, Spurs were unable to hang on for their first-ever win over United. Maya LeTissier bundled home a rebounded effort in extra time of the second half after former Spurs striker smacked the crossbar, giving the hosts an equalzing goal in a pulsating 2-2 draw at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium in Manchester.
This was Tottenham’s first match since their dramatic extra time win over Leicester City in the FA Cup semifinals, and the only changes Robert Vilahamn opted to make from that starting lineup was to bring in Martha Thomas and Matilda Vinberg into the forward line, replacing Grace Clinton and Celin Bizet. Clinton, of course, could not play against United, her host club, due to the terms of her loan contract.
United are a talented team and set up to counter-press Tottenham and hit back quickly as soon as Spurs turned the ball over. It made United difficult to handle, and difficult to play through. United dominated the early proceedings, keeping ahold of the majority of the possession and not letting Spurs get much beyond a toehold on the game.
United made their breakthrough in the 13th minute — veteran defender Gemma Evans lofted a free kick forward over the top of Spurs’ back line towards forward Melvine Malard, and the former Lyon striker got a head to the ball, putting it past Becky Spencer and putting the hosts up 1-0.
Spurs had a decent look at goal a couple minutes later after Jessica Naz picked out Amanda Nildén in United’s box, but the Swede shanked her shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.
Tottenham’s equalizer came just before the half-hour mark. Summanen took a short corner to Vinberg who put a deep cross to the back post. The ball was headed to Drew Spence who hammered a low shot in that took a few deflections past Mary Earps and into the back of the net. Spence was initially credited for the goal, but it was eventually given to Bethany England who was adjudged to have gotten a touch on the ball before crossing the line.
Two minutes later, Spurs scored the go-ahead goal through Naz — Summanen put a through ball that Amanda Vinberg chased to the end line. She held it there, waiting for her teammates to catch up to her, then fired a cross that United only half-cleared to the feet of Jessica Naz. Naz took a couple of dribbles before rocketing a left-footed shot into the top corner past Earps. Two quick goals in three minutes put Tottenham ahead 2-1.
Spurs were forced into a substitution immediately afterwards as Martha Thomas appeared to pick up an injury. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to Big Marf; she walked off the pitch under her own power, but Vilahamn opted to sub her for Kit Graham, hopefully as a precaution.
The goals put a little spring in Spurs’ step from there until the end of the first half. Tottenham looked a little quicker to close down players, a little brighter going forward as United seemed to be knocked back on their heels a bit. That energy carried over into halftime as they took the 2-1 lead into the break.
The second half started on an even footing with both sides more or less canceling each other out. United opted to make a double change at 55’, bringing in league veteran and former Tottenham striker Rachel Williams for Malard and Lucia Garcia for Nikita Parris.
Tottenham made their second change at the hour mark, as Ramona Petzelberger came on in midfield for a visibly exhausted Drew Spence. Vilahamn made a double change ten minutes later, bringing in Rosella Ayane and Olga Ahtinen came on for Vinberg and Summanen.
United were clearly motivated for an equalizer and the ball spent much of the time in Tottenham’s half in the second 45 minutes. Tottenham seemed content to sit deeper and absorb pressure, with the end result being they were put under the cosh for large parts of the second half. Defensively, Spurs did just enough to cut out half chances and clear balls, but the pendulum had clearly shifted back towards the home side.
Ironically, United’s best chance in regular time came courtesy of a defensive mistake from Tottenham — Amy James-Turner made a decidedly loose back pass towards Spencer that was nearly picked off by United’s Leah Galton in the 72nd minute; Spencer was able to rush forward and poke the ball away or it surely would’ve been an equalizing goal.
Rear-guard action is exhausting, and this half seemed to drag out into eternity. Late into the half Spurs tried to take the air out of the ball and delay as long as possible, while United continued their high line and pressure. Into extra time, Earps moved up on a late United corner kick that Spurs just managed to scramble away.
But the problem with playing defensively is sometimes it backfires. On another injury time corner, United’s Williams put a header that went off the crossbar and out, only for Maya LeTissier to bundle the rebound effort over the line to give United an equalizing goal in the 92nd minute. The match official blew for full time, with the final score Manchester United 2-2 Tottenham Women.
Quick match reactions
- I had to delete a bit in this article about a “confidence boosting win” — this would’ve been Spurs’ first-ever win over United, and the nature of the match means it feels like a very disappointing draw. But that shouldn’t take away from what was an excellent performance from Spurs. If this was a FA Cup final preview, we could be in for an exciting match.
- In some ways that draw feels like like punishment for Spurs taking a defensive stance in the second half. They really sat deep and tried to hold the lead rather than playing a more attacking Bob-Ball. I don’t know if that was coaching or what, but it put the team under enormous pressure, especially late.
- Jess Naz feels like she’s finally making The Leap™ — she’s really playing with confidence right now and looks like a major goal threat for Spurs going forward.
- Matilda Vinberg also had a very good match playing high up the pitch in Celin Bizet’s usual role. She had a hand in both of Tottenham’s goals — both times crosses to the back post that resulted in shots. It’s probably her best match for Spurs and I’d like to see more from her.
- I don’t know what happened to Martha Thomas that caused her substitution — the stream didn’t show the incident, or a replay. She walked off the pitch under her own power so hopefully it’s just a knock that can be managed, but it’s a concern — losing Big Marf means losing a good chunk of Spurs’ offensive efficacy. Not sure what’s going on with Bizet either, but hopefully they’re both back in time for the final, if not earlier.
- This definitely feels like two dropped points, but it’s an important result. Spurs’ next match is home to Brighton next weekend.